What Are the Types of Office Workstation Tables?

People spend more time on computers at office workstations than ever before, either in corporate or home offices. Some people sit at their office workstations for eight or more hours a day, many of which have poor ergonomic design.

While a lot of attention in the ergonomic workplace movement has been focused on ergonomic office chairs, like the famous Haworth Zody task chair, it is just as important to have a good ergonomic design with your office workstation table design.

So, what is a good ergonomic workstation table design, and what are the various types of office workstation configurations? Read on to find out more.

The importance of ergonomic design in office workstation tables

Ergonomics is the scientific study of people's efficiency in their working environments. By optimising a workstation to be ergonomic, people can be more supported, comfortable and productive in their interactions with their work environment.

Sitting for long periods, like at an office workstation, is linked to an ever-increasing list of significant adverse health conditions from sitting in a sedentary position with poor posture and alignment.

Some of these adverse health conditions include:

• Poor overall posture
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Chronic neck and back pain
• Diabetes
• Certain cancers
• Heart disease
• Deep vein thrombosis
• High blood pressure and more

While moving throughout the work day is essential, you can also address many of these adverse health effects via good ergonomic workstation design, which includes using utilities such as:

• Ergonomically adjustable office chairs
• Adjustable office workstation tables
• Adjustable monitor arms
• Ergonomically designed keyboards, mice and track-pads
• Footstools

 

A good ergonomic workstation may include a few or all of these items, depending on your work requirements.

One of these items that often gets overlooked is the office workstation table; however, it is probably the next most important element of an ergonomic workstation next to the office chair.

Different office workstation table designs

Various ergonomic office workstations allow for different levels of ergonomic adjustment and different degrees of movement throughout the day.

While many settle for a standard office desk and work their ergonomic designs around it, various types of office workstation tables can give different professionals a superior ergonomic workspace.

Standard office desk

A standard office desk allows for very little, if any, adjustment and may feature nothing more than a top surface, a pull-out keyboard shelf and maybe some storage draws to one side.

If the desk is designed for a computer, there may be other compartments or a raised shelf for a monitor. This type of desk's ergonomics depend on adjustable accessories like office chairs, monitor arms and footstools.

Adjustable office workstation desk

This type of office workstation desk, at a minimum, offers a manual or electronic height adjustment that adjusts all legs at once.

This utility allows the user to set the desk's height to the chair perfectly so the feet are flat and the back is straight with elbows parallel to the floor; this is the ideal ergonomic seated position.

Standing desk

Standing desks are becoming more popular, allowing for a full range of adjustments for seated and standing positions. While there are manually adjustable standing desks, many are controlled by an electric motor for ease of adjustment.

This design allows for more movement throughout the day, improves blood flow, and is the best design for avoiding the negative health effects of a sedentary workstation.

Different types of office workstation configurations

Whether working solo or in a broader office work community, there are some common configurations you can expect to find in a traditional and modern office space.

Linear workstation

Also known as a straight workstation, the linear style is the classic office set-up, with fixed workstations side by side in rows for high-capacity staff office configurations.

Cubicle workstation

A cubicle is a more secluded workstation that can often fit one to three people. These types of workstations can be more spacious and customisable, allowing individuals or small teams to work with less distraction or interference with the surrounding office space.

They are generally square in design, with three desks across one to three cubicle walls, with an entry point that could be open or feature a door.

Cluster workstations

Cluster workstations, like linear workstations, often feature a high-capacity cluster of L-shaped desks that allow for a computer station and a working table to the left or right.

Back-to-back workstations

Back-to-back workstations can be configured in several ways, be it for two, three, four or more workers. This system aims to allow people to focus on their work or services while still being able to communicate with the surrounding team by simply swivelling their chairs around.

Back-to-back workstation designs are popular in businesses like call centres and IT support offices.

Pentagon workstations

Pentagonal office workstations are ideal when a small to medium team must collaborate throughout their workdays, like a development team or group of professionals who need to collaborate in creative problem-solving.

U-shaped workstation

A U-shaped workstation can provide a spacious office table for one or two people to work back-to-back with a shared side space to the left or right. Three can fit this configuration, but it can get crowded without significantly larger office tables.

Designer workstations

With more people working from home than ever before post the COVID pandemic, the designer workstation is becoming the norm, allowing people to customise their workspace to suit their unique working styles, previously an executive luxury in the traditional office environment.

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Are you moving out of your office into a new facility? We provide office strip-out and buy-back solutions that can help reduce our local office furniture waste problem.

To learn more about our full range of second-hand office workstations, or any of our other sustainable office furniture solutions, call us today on 03 9312 6341, or send your details and brief message via our online contact form, and one of our representatives can call you at a prefered time.